Editor Reports: Tory leak is ‘unacceptable’ unless its a Labour leak?

Just a few months ago the Conservative Party would have cried with joy at the kind of leak made to The Daily Telegraph today – now it’s crying the leak is ‘totally unacceptable’. Oh how things change when the leak’s are on the other foot.

Today’s edition of The Daily Telegraph carries a front page story regarding a letter from Dr. Liam Fox, the Defence Minister, to David Cameron. The letter argues against massive budget cuts to the Defence Ministry while the UK is still at war and says that any major cuts will harm the reputation of the country and the party. Fox also argues that any big spending cuts in terms of defence will not sit well with the media of the general public; how right he is.

The fact that the letter has been leaked to The Daily Telegraph doesn’t sit well with the Tories. If the situation was reverse and it was a Labour minister writing such a letter they would have lapped it up. Indeed when Labour moaned about leaks during their final years in power the Tories called them hypocrite’s and said that leaks were a necessary part of democracy – and to hold the government accountable.

Oh how things change when the leak’s are on the other-foot. According to the BBC Liam Fox has called the leak ‘totally unacceptable’ and the BBC News Site quotes him as saying ‘I am utterly appalled by this breach of trust and have ordered a full investigation to find out how it happened. We will stop at nothing to ensure that the culprit is found.”

I wonder how the Tories would have reacted if that was a Labour minister making such statements? As the spending cuts continue – and get more savage – the Tories and their Liberal Democrat partners-in-coalition should brace themselves for more such leaks.